Los Angeles Kings v Calgary Flames (Saddledome)
Time: 6:00 PM
TV: Fox Sports West
Enemy reading: Matchsticks & Gasoline
Flames (projected) lineup:
Cammalleri-Backlund-Bouma
Galiardi-Monahan-Colborne
Byron-Granlund-Reinhart
Hanowski-Knight-McGrattan
Giordano-Brodie
Smid-Wotherspoon
Russell-Butler
Ortio
Injured: Karri Ramo (knee), David Jones (shoulder), Curtis Glencross (ankle), Jiri Hudler (lower body), Dennis Wideman (upper body), Kevin Westgarth (concussion); On leave: Matt Stajan; Scratched: seriously?
Kings (projected) lineup:
Gaborik-Kopitar-Williams
Toffoli-Richards-Carter
King-Stoll-Brown
Clifford-Lewis-Nolan
Muzzin-Doughty
Regehr-Voynov
Mitchell-Martinez
Jones
Injured: n/a; Scratched: Matt Greene, Tanner Pearson
Game Notes:
- Jordan Nolan has a phone hearing with the DOPS today due to his dangerous, stupid sucker punch on Jesse Joensuu in last night’s game, in one of those scenarios which really highlights how regressive and ineffectual the current supplementary discipline regime is. The honest fact is that this team is better off without Jordan Nolan in the lineup, and suspending him doesn’t have any real down-side for the Kings. While coaches might prefer to play certain players, these suspensions have no impact on results, and there is never any incentive for teams to work to ensure that their depth players follow the damn rules. Lookin’ at you, Vancouver/Tom Sestito!
- Semi-relatedly, I miss Linden Vey. #FreeLindenVey
- Let’s hope there are no injuries/incidents tonight, because the Flames are beat up to hell and looking at their lineup makes me feel bad. Five AHL skaters (Ben Hanowski, Markus Granlund, Max Reinhart, Corban Knight, and Tyler Wotherspoon) are playing, and rookie goalie Joni Ortio will make his fifth NHL start tonight.
- The Kings roll into the Saddledome looking to extend their longest win streak since 2010. They played a strong, if slightly uneven, game against the Oilers last night. The Doughty-Muzzin pairing killed, as usual. Anze Kopitar was a hero, and Jonathan Quick was solid in net. The Toffoli-Richards-Carter line was mostly the Mike Richards & Jeff Carter show, but they continued their strong post-Olympics play. Everyone else could stand to pick it up a little.
- Our old friend taking-extremely-stupid-penalties-for-no-reason appears to have returned, and he sucks. I know that discipline only matters inasmuch as it affects games (I’m not, like, morally opposed to interference), but if the Kings aren’t going to get their penalty kill shit together, they need to stop being put on the penalty kill so much.
- Marian Gaborik watch: Gaborik has five shots and no points in two games. His puck possession game has been decent (he was better against the Jets than the Oilers), but also he’s been riding shotgun with Anze Kopitar. Panic level: green. Seriously, it’s been two games.
- ~Fun With Numbers~ from Extra Skater. Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie are probably the only reasons the Flames haven’t been blown out in every game. Yeesh.
- Prediction: Kings win 4-1, and we all make fun of Mike Cammalleri even though the trade deadline has passed, because tradition.